Throughout the buildup to what is being billed as the biggest fight in boxing history, there were many questions being asked.
Is Mike Tyson too old to be stepping back in the ring?
Is Jake Paul a good enough boxer to stand against one of the greatest to ever do it?
Will this whole thing be a sham, or an actual, competitive contest?
The one thing that was never in doubt, though, was if Tyson and Paul could bring the spectacle.
On Friday night, the show delivered.
In the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, there was no shortage of star power for the blockbuster event, sponsored by CELSIUS Energy Drinks and broadcast worldwide on Netflix.
The buzz in the building was palpable. Nothing that Paul does is on a small scale and this was no exception.
When Paul and Tyson were shown on the stadium’s enormous jumbotron entering the stadium, fans vociferously booed and cheered for the combatants, respectively.
Before the main card even kicked off, Most Valuable Promotions announced that the show had shattered the record for the biggest gate outside of Las Vegas in U.S. history.
With more than 70,000 fans in attendance, Tyson-Paul raked in more $17.8 million in ticket sales alone – more than double the business that Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders drew in 2021 at the same venue.
With the music pumping between matches and the crowd roaring for the boxers throughout the night, there certainly was a big-fight feel to an event that many had written off before it even had a chance.
PUTTING ON A SHOW
For lack of a better phrase, Neeraj Goyat knew the assignment.
The Indian fighter made sure to put on a show during the first match of the main card – even walking his opponent, Whindersson Nunes, into the corner and giving him a dry hump.
Goyat used some great head movement to avoid the Brazilian’s attacks and threw solid counters throughout the six-round match.
The only thing that he didn’t do was score a knockout, having to settle for a unanimous decision win to move to 19-4 with two draws.
After showing some character and showmanship in the ring, Goyat surely gained some popularity outside of his homeland. The showman already has appeared in a couple of Bollywood films and reality shows, but after becoming the first Indian boxer to be ranked by the WBC, expect to see more of him in the near future.
SOUTHWEST SLUGFEST
Mario Barros and Abel Ramos exchanged some heavy blows and traded a couple of knockdowns during their 12-round welterweight title fight.
A straight right from the champ Barrios nearly sent Ramos down to one knee in the first round, but the challenger was quick to recover.
In the second round, Ramos wasn’t so lucky, getting put on his back by a left hook-straight right combo. To his credit, he sprung back up and didn’t back down.
His tenacity paid off in the sixth round when he sent the champ to the floor with a powerful shot. Barrios got back to his feet, but clearly was in trouble for the rest of the frame.
In the end, the three judges couldn’t separate the two fighters with one judge scoring it 116-110 Barrios, another 114-112 Ramos and the third a 113-113 draw.
As a result, Barrios retains his WBC welterweight world title.
THE WHIP GETS CRACKED
Shadasia Green scored a split decision victory over Canadian Melinda ‘The Whip’ Watpool to capture the vacant WBO super middleweight world title.
Watpool, of Pefferlaw, Ont., looked strong at midrange and in close, but Green’s powerful shots from longer range did the most damage.
One judge scored the fight 96-94 for Watpool, but the Sweet Terminator had scores of 97-93 and 96-94 in her favour.
Watpool’s underdog effort was admirable against a fighter that already had one title challenge and more than twice as many professional bouts under her belt.
CONTENT CANADIAN
In a battle of undefeated fighters, Canadian Lucas Bahdi scored a majority decision victory over Armando Casamonica.
Two judges had the Niagara Falls, Ont., fighter win the match by scores of 96-93 and 98-92, while the third scored the fight as a draw at 95-95.
Casamonica had been the more aggressive fighter, coming forward for most of the match and even began taunting the counter-puncher in the sixth round.
Had Bahdi dropped the decision, you could bet he would be upset. Casamonica had missed weight by three pounds for the lightweight contest.
OPENING ONSLAUGHT
In the first fight of the night, Bruce ‘Shu Shu’ Carrington put in a dominant effort to score a unanimous decision win over Australia’s Dana Coolwell.
Carrington pitched a shutout on the judges’ cards with all three scoring the fight 80-70. Shu Shu, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., knocked down Coolwell in both the fourth and eighth rounds.
You have to give Coolwell a lot of credit, though, for absorbing as much punishment as he did and sticking it out to go the distance.
Carrington improves to 14-0 and looks to be destined for bigger and better things.
QUICK JABS
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones caught a ton of flak, first from his players and then from sports fans in general, after CeeDee Lamb complained about being blinded by the sun and dropped a potential TD last week. While the star WR called for curtains to put be put up during late afternoon games, Jones balked at the idea. However, with the big event getting a similar start time, AT&T Stadium opted to draw the shades, much to the delight of many in the building and on social media … While you’re always going to see movement when it comes to betting lines before big fights, something fairly wild happened with the co-main event. Katie Taylor, who had been favoured at around -150 earlier this week, had fallen to become a massive +200 underdog against Amanda Serrano by the time they stepped in the ring.
FIGHT CARD
MAIN CARD
Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson (8, two-minute rounds)
Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano for the undisputed super lightweight world title
Mario Barrios vs.Abel Ramos for the WBC welterweight world title
Neeraj Goyat def. Whindersson Nunes via unanimous decision
PRELIMINARY FIGHTS
Shadasia Green def. Melinda Watpool via split decision for the WBO super middleweight world title
Lucas Bahdi def. Armando Casamonica via majority decision
Shu Shu Carrington Jr. def. Dana Coolwell via unanimous decision
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